tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post6793858494604518465..comments2024-03-09T13:29:11.190+00:00Comments on Art Hostage: Stolen Art Watch, Art Loss Register or Julian Radcliffe Rancid Racket ????Art Hostage http://www.blogger.com/profile/04025483327345956228noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-76675341005338093782008-03-17T13:11:00.000+00:002008-03-17T13:11:00.000+00:00Fools! I have the 13 Gardner pictures and have be...Fools! I have the 13 Gardner pictures and have been enjoying them for the last 18 years here in my home just to the left of my fish tank.<BR/>I am waiting for the fiercest non profit negotiator to wrest these from my possession. Bring them on!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-60444394436838340162008-03-17T12:42:00.000+00:002008-03-17T12:42:00.000+00:00Excuse me, leave art hostage alone!So big deal, he...Excuse me, leave art hostage alone!<BR/>So big deal, he wants to be Julian Radcliffe instead of a former (?) criminal sitting in a poor man's flat blogging on a borrowed computer while the rest of the world is out working.<BR/>Oh, and I am reader number five, so there!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-55446441593275988032008-03-17T10:45:00.000+00:002008-03-17T10:45:00.000+00:00I tend to agree with the last commenter.There are ...I tend to agree with the last commenter.<BR/>There are so many other people to go after in the art restitution world. What's your obsession with Mr. Radciffe and his Art Loss Registry? You have already admitted ENVY but enough now.<BR/>I have seen you criticize publicly funded law enforcement for not doing enough and for not being competent. The ALR does good work and does not overcharge for their services. The way I see it, if you are a victim of stolen art, you can call the police and one day next century they will get it back for you.<BR/>If you are a victim of Nazi related art theft, you can go to a number of free organizations and never see your artwork again. Or, you can go to one of the big UK or US law firms and become a victim all over again.<BR/>I strongly DISAGREE with the last poster's comments about you having just three readers. I count FOUR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-63947451145138902022008-03-16T14:31:00.000+00:002008-03-16T14:31:00.000+00:00So Mr. Hostage,Answer this question so that all th...So Mr. Hostage,<BR/>Answer this question so that all three of your readers can know your true feelings.<BR/>Should law firms also not charge Holocaust victims a fee for legal work? <BR/>And what about victims of other Holocausts? Armenians? Victims of Russian Communism? A free pass? Everyone everywhere must work for nothing for anyone who suffered? Many of these people approach groups like the ALR and are WILLING to pay. Do you really think UNESCO can run anything efficiently? They can't even run their own organization. I used to read this blog for genuine insight. You are becoming an envious fool. Get back to reporting on Art Theft and your intelligent comments and theories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-80554325067670029192008-03-15T17:20:00.000+00:002008-03-15T17:20:00.000+00:00The sheer nerve, bloody discraceful !!To try and j...The sheer nerve, bloody discraceful !!<BR/><BR/>To try and justify extortion from Holocaust decendents because the Art Loss Register is not making money highlights the elitist manner in which the stolen art recovery world conducts itself.<BR/><BR/>Next we will hear about how Julian Radcliffe is trying to sell the Art Loss register to a govt body for millions.<BR/><BR/>However, what is needed is a UNESCO funded body to collate a stolen art list and make it available to all countries, free of charge.<BR/><BR/>The premise of the Art Loss Register is a good thing, to list stolen art, but the practices of the Art Loss Register akin to those of organised crime syndicate Extortion rackets.<BR/><BR/>If we are to accept it is alright to extort money from Holocauset decendents because the Art Loss Register is not making money, then what next, the Police charging victims a fee for Policework if their budget is getting low ??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-66483020796907296182008-03-14T11:40:00.000+00:002008-03-14T11:40:00.000+00:00Have you ever seen the Art Loss Registry's bottom ...Have you ever seen the Art Loss Registry's bottom line? I work for a small auction house and we get annual statements as a minor shareholder. They are not making a lot of money.<BR/>Compare with Sotheby's and Christie's every year in the hundreds of millions of pounds.<BR/>The art world needs the ALR or the crooks and dealers will run wild. Oh, and art dealers? You want to know who is really raking it in?friendsofALRunitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02072704295075223458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-66117215667544507652008-03-14T10:57:00.000+00:002008-03-14T10:57:00.000+00:00Of course you are Michel Van Rijn, But no matter. ...Of course you are Michel Van Rijn, <BR/>But no matter. If the ALR did not charge a fee who will pay the art historians and staff who spend countless hours researching cases like mine?<BR/>No one is willing to fund the ALR on their own. Do you think art dealers everywhere will get together and fund the operation? Auction houses? Come on Michel.<BR/>My family took our case to HARP and other "free" holocaust help groups. We got no results and very little attention. Oh, and when we went to two different law firms they wanted costs up front and one third of the result. A researcher in Amsterdam quoted us forty percent. We were happy to pay the ALR for their hard work and I know we were not overcharged especially in light of the positive results we got. No one else could have done the job they did. You admit your envy at the one big fee they got on the Cezanne. I know what they did with that windfall, they hired five more art students full time to find my family's picture. They opened a small research office in Paris. That money is gone. Without some way to pay their people, the ALR too will be gone. Then you can blog about Herrick Feinstein or Randal Shoenberg or Clemons Touissant all day long. People who work for free do not work very long.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-72068261571795788982008-03-13T19:44:00.000+00:002008-03-13T19:44:00.000+00:00First of all I am not Michel Van Rijn.Poor old Mic...First of all I am not Michel Van Rijn.<BR/><BR/>Poor old Michel is restrained from blogging at present and has never had anything to do with the Stolen Vermeer and Art Hostage blogs.<BR/><BR/>Art Hostage has admitted envy at the fee's charged by ALR, but would also point out the nasty taste left in the mouth of all those seeking Nazi stolen, looted art from their heirs.<BR/><BR/>I could say you are Bakwin the Cezanne owner, who sold it for $37 million and was pleased to pay Julian Radcliffe his $3.7 million.<BR/><BR/>I agree the ALR has a role to play and indeed they have been useful in stolen art recovery.<BR/><BR/>However, when it comes to Nazi looted art, any payment is dripping in the blood of millions of innocent men women and children, over six million in fact, slaughtered by the most evil regime in history.<BR/><BR/>How on earth people can sleep at night knowing they are extorting money from the heirs of slaughtered innocent Jewish victims is beyind me.<BR/><BR/>To those who demand payment from Holocaust victims decendants Shame on you, Shame on you !!<BR/><BR/>Go-on say it, I know you want to, call me a Jew Lover and Israel supporter.<BR/><BR/>That is what all this prevaracating is about, anti-semitism, that's why Nazi Looted art is still being held Art Hostage by European Museums.<BR/><BR/>If all of the Nazi looted art was originally owned by Gentiles we would not be still seeking its return, it would have all been recovered years ago, demanded by Western Govts.<BR/><BR/>You only have to look at the luke warm response of govts to Jewish Holocaust victims claims, not just art but cash also held by Swiss and other european banks.<BR/><BR/>The most shameful act of the 20th century, the Holocaust, still has many unresolved issues sixty years plus later.<BR/><BR/>The German Sonderweg is alive and kicking throughout German Museums and the German Elite.<BR/><BR/>The Dutch elite fare not better.<BR/><BR/>Back to the Pissarro episode,<BR/><BR/>The offer of free investigation into the Pissarro by Julian Radcliffe now looks like a golden hello, followed by the kicker, 20% first million, 15% second million, 10% thereafter, the change of heart and ALR policy looks dishonest and nasty when applied to Nazi Looted art.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34871991.post-50272406186209490912008-03-13T19:03:00.000+00:002008-03-13T19:03:00.000+00:00Mr. Van Rijn, are you suggesting that it would hav...Mr. Van Rijn, are you suggesting that it would have been better that the painting remain underground? I read your piece on the Gardner theft. Do you want more of these works to stay hidden? The Art Loss Register has helped me and others like me to locate works of art that have been stolen over the years. The small fee I paid them is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars I paid to lawyers and greedy lowlife consignors who demand "finders fees". Everyone is entitled to something for their hard work. I think your criticisms are misguided and unfair.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com